Which of the parties did its internal crisis contribute to the breakdown of the McPherson Constitution of 1951?

Analyze the question: The McPherson Constitution (1951) introduced a quasi-federal system with regional legislatures and a central House of Representatives. It broke down in 1953 because of a crisis in the Western Region. The question asks which party's internal crisis contributed to that breakdown.

Background:

• In the 1951 Western Region elections, the N.C.N.C. won the majority of seats. However, the Action Group (AG), led by Obafemi Awolowo, had been formed in 1951 to contest the elections.
• Under the constitution, the Western House of Assembly's members were chosen through an electoral college system. Many N.C.N.C. members were elected, but some of them crossed the carpet to the Action Group, giving the AG control of the Western Region government.
• This was possible because of a crisis within the N.C.N.C. Its leader, Nnamdi Azikiwe, was a member of the Western House, and the party's members were divided over his leadership. Several N.C.N.C. members, who were meant to be loyal to the party, defected, and Azikiwe was denied the leadership of government business in the West.
• The resulting "carpet crossing" and the removal of N.C.N.C. ministers in the West led to a major political crisis. It exposed the weakness of the McPherson Constitution, which created a Council of Ministers that was unable to function with unity, and it contributed to the breakdown of the constitution.
• The constitution fell fully apart in 1953 when the Kano riots and Anthony Enahoro's motion for self-government in 1956 showed the constitution's limitations. The first crisis, however, came from the internal division in the N.C.N.C., particularly in the Western Region.

Solution:

• A. A.G: It benefited from the crisis but was not the party whose internal crisis caused it.
• B. N.C.N.C: Its internal crisis in the Western House, with defections and the dispute over Azikiwe's leadership, contributed to the breakdown.
• C. N.E.P.U: It was a northern radical party and not central to this crisis.
• D. N.P.C: It was a northern party whose role was in the later self-government motion dispute.
• E. U.M.B.C: It was a Middle Belt party, which was not the source of the crisis.

Answer: B. N.C.N.C

Tip: Link "McPherson Constitution" with the "1951 Western Region crisis," and remember that the N.C.N.C. was the party that split from within (defections to the AG). Questions on "internal crisis" often point to the N.C.N.C.